Ruby Loves Snow.

Here are a few photos of Ruby's adventures in the snow so far this year.

The first time it snowed, all she wanted to do was put on her coat and boots and walk around in it. We walked around the yard for probably 30 minutes and she was in absolute heaven.

Happy snow girl

The next time it snowed was much more substantial and we pulled the sled around in it. It took her a few times of falling down forward on her face to figure out how to get up in the snow. It was pretty funny.

We have since gotten some much better mittens for this little snow bunny!

Fall Wrap Up

So here are a few things we did this fall.

1. Ruby became ULTRA obsessed with Disney Princesses. We got her this Belle dress to wear for Halloween, but she insisted on wearing it all day, every day, the month prior.

 This shows just how happy she is to be a princess

 2. We went on some hikes

Ruby and Daddy overlooking Wenatchee

 Ruby and Mommy overlooking more of the Columbia

 3. Nick & I celebrated (late) our 5th wedding anniversary in Victoria, B.C. 

The front of one of the sweet castles we saw in Victoria, the Craigdarroch Castle 

The back of the Craigdarroch Castle

 The Hatley Castle on the grounds of Hatley Park

 Kissy Kissy

Some of the gardens in the back of Hatley Castle

Back of Hatley Castle

4. Visited my mom & Bill when they came up to a time share at Birch Bay, WA

 Bill, Ruby, my Mom

We went to a cute little craft fair/antique show, visited some marinas and toured a few yachts (Nick's favorite) and Ruby got some Grandma Giles time in. Not enough, but some. :) Grandma read her story after story, took her potty (she wouldn't let me. Only Grandma), and made cards.

5. Then Nick flew to IL for some work training and I talked my cousin, Martha, into coming to stay with me for a few days. Bless her. She really helped the time go by!

 We took the girls to Smallwoods, near Leavenworth, where they had a cute little pumpkin patch and all kinds of kid Halloween activities. Ruby obviously loved this huge tub of balls.

 Ruby checking out the pumpkins

 She really liked the ones with "warts" because they looked like "a mean witch."

 Posing with the pumpkins

 Not wanting to take a picture with Mommy

Martha & Sienna

Run like the wind with a wagon

6. Then came Halloween. Ruby wore her prize possession- the Belle Dress. Complete with high heels. Luckily with Halloween on a Sunday this year, we didn't have to go trick-or-treating. Instead, our ward had an awesome trunk-or-treat.

Ruby's friend Bailey (Minnie Mouse) and Princess Belle at the Halloween party

 Ruby's attempt at smiling for a picture with me

Daddy ("The Pwince") and Ruby trunk-or-treating next to a huge blow up "mean witch."

We're not dead.

Hello friends! I realize it's been almost a year (gasp!) since I last posted. After two computer crash episodes, I'm back. And boy, is my blog jacked. I have got to do some major fixing, and of course upload some new photos of us. Please be patient with me as I try and fix everything and get it updated. We have lots to catch up on, so stay tuned!

P.S. anyone know how to get this super annoying photo bucket box (where it says "this image has been deleted") off my page? Ugh!

Little Ladybug

Ruby's first real Halloween as a Ladybug!

I made her this red tutu with black pom poms for polka dots.
(It will fit her until she's about 15.)
I made the wings & hair clips too.

Back view of the cute little bug
Trying to catch up to the kids!

The awesome glow necklace...

Daddy has a cute bum

After we got home, Daddy was nice and gave her a few pieces of "his candy."

Loving some Peanut M&M's

Next year I'll have to teach her how to be a little more aggressive. By the time she got up to one lady's door, all she had left were quarters. :)

Let's play catch. Up.

Ruby's latest obsession is Jesus. She sees a picture of him and starts yelling "Jesuuuuh" or "Jeejeee". We have the gospel art kit and she likes to carry the pictures around. In this picure Nick is showing her one of her favorites--Jesus and the fishermen. She loves to point to Jesus and especially the boat. She yells "Boat! Boat! Boat!" It's pretty dang cute.

Looking out the window, probably trying to see Daddy outside.

the "Blue House" is finished! Nick has been working on this house for about a year now. He did a great job! 2,800 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, granite counter tops and nice finishes.

Nick & I went to see Wicked in Seattle with his mom & brother.
FABULOUS. I have been loving the music for quite a while, so it was great to finally see how the whole story played out. Such a good time.

I ran the Leavenworth 1/2 Marathon two weeks ago. This was my third 1/2 I've done and this was probably the best experience yet! I've been training since July and I've done all my running alone this time. I always enjoy having an event to train for to give me a little extra motivation in my diet/workouts. And with the help of Van Halen and Miley Cyrus (just to name a few), I got 'er done. You can ask me about my killer playlist later. Pretty sweet, I must admit.
New this time were my sexy spandex shorts. Oh wait. Not by any means flattering, but super comfy and they got rid of a lot of wedgy picking/inner-thigh adjusting. Definitely a case of function instead of fashion.

Ruby & I before the race


Ruby likes to help me in the kitchen. She helped me make Snickerdoodles for Uncle Jer's birthday. Isn't she the cutest little helper?

My dear friend Jennifer Vance & I before she moved back to Utah. What a dish, that Jennifer. (I call her Vance.) We met in my first advertising class at BYU in '03, but our friendship didn't really bloom until the fall of '04. We had pretty much every class together and laughed ourselves silly. Love her. She's from the Seattle area and moved back up here about 6 months ago. It was so nice having her close (well, 2.5 hrs away is close enough)! She just moved back to Utah a month ago, so before she left, we had one final shopping trip/girl's day together. And I finally got to meet Holls after all this time! Vance-- love you, miss you.

it's pretty common to find Ruby walking around the house with some kind of comb, pick or brush in her hand/hair
One of Ruby's favorite pasttimes--sitting in the laundry basket.

All summer long Ruby was obsessed with her swimming suits. Toward the end of the summer she would see them and say "Shim?" then she'd carry it around all day. Or in this case, insist that we put it on her. She would walk around so pleased with herself and excitedly say, "Shim! Shim! Shim!"


Another swimsuit/pajama occurrence (looks like a singlet)

Side/back view

One of our last boat rides of the summer

The day Ruby and I went to the County Fair in Cashmere, WA. It was the first official pig tail day for her and she looked SO cute. The Fair was a total flashback, as I used to enter various cookies, pajama pants, items from the garden, etc. in our county fair. They had all sorts of animals. Ruby was terrified of the pigs (they're not as small as they are in her books!) but loved the horses and bunnies, chickens and goats.

A cute picture I found of Ruby, holding still for the camera AND actually smiling!